THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF
MICHELLE OBAMA ANSWER KEY LEVEL 3
Before-reading questions
1 Reader’s own answers.
2 Reader’s own answer.
3 Reader’s own answers.
4 Reader’s own answer.
During-reading questions
CHAPTER ONE
1 Slaves arrived on ships from Africa. When
they got to America, men sold them for a lot
of money to the plantation farmers.
2 Melvinia was a slave girl in the 1800s.
Michelle Obama is her great-great-great-
granddaughter.
3 They understood that education was very
important for their children. Marian wanted
them to have a good education and taught
them to read at home. Both children could
read when they were four.
CHAPTER TWO
1 He was an important African-American civil
rights leader. He started the Whitney M.
Young Magnet High School in Chicago.
2 They must have very good grades and take a
special exam.
3 Reader’s own answer.
Model answer: Yes, she was very happy
in her years at high school. She was good at
sports, but she did many other things too. She
sometimes worried about things, for example,
when she gave the wrong answer in an exam.
CHAPTER THREE
1 Many of the other students were from rich
families and drove expensive cars. Michelle
came from an apartment with only two
Copyright © Ladybird Books Ltd, 2020
rooms. Some students showed racism
towards Michelle.
2 She joined a group of ethnic minority
students called The Third World Centre.
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As part of this group, she ran the
day care centre to look after young
children and helped older children with
their schoolwork.
3 She went to law school at Harvard University.
CHAPTER FOUR
1 Michelle wanted to be sure that Barack was
a good person. Her brother told her, “If you
play basketball with someone, you can learn
a lot about them.”
2 She wanted to make the world a better
place, but her job did not help her to do this
in the way that she hoped. Michelle felt very
sad and decided it was time to change her
life and leave Sidley Austin.
3 Model answer: Public Allies trained young
people in many parts of the USA to become
leaders in public services. Michelle loved
working for it, and learned many things
about working in the community from it.
Reader’s own answer.
CHAPTER FIVE
1 She worked hard to get money for the
campaign, and met important people and
gave interviews to the media.
2 Michelle felt it was important for Malia and
Sasha to stay in Chicago. They were still
very young. They did not know anybody in
Washington, and they might not be happy at a
new school.
3 Some people in the media. Michelle was very
strong and did not allow anyone to make her feel
bad. She said, “When they go low, we go high.”
CHAPTER SIX
1 It got its name from white paint. There
were problems with rainwater going into the
building’s stones. The workmen were worried
that the stones were going to break, so they
painted them with a special white paint.
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 THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF
MICHELLE OBAMA ANSWER KEY LEVEL 3

Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to
call it the White House.
2 Because many children in America were
becoming obese, and she was worried
about this.
3 She and Jill Biden started a campaign called
“Joining Forces”. In this campaign, she
wanted to give veterans the opportunity for
a better life, and help them find good jobs.
She also wanted ordinary American people
to learn more about life in the military, so
they could understand the veterans better.
CHAPTER SEVEN
1 Because she felt very worried, sad and angry
about the schoolgirls in Nigeria. She wanted
the American people to know that she and
Barack were trying to help the schoolgirls.
2 Malala Yousafzai was a schoolgirl in
Pakistan. She believes that all girls should
go to school. When the Taliban came to
her village and closed all the girls’ schools,
she wrote about it for a British news
organisation. A man from the Taliban shot
her in the head, but she did not die. A doctor
better. She was also happy that her daughters
could have a more ordinary life, away from the
media. And she wanted to continue with her
work for public services.
3 Education.
After-reading questions
1 Reader’s own answers.
2 Reader’s own answer.
3 Reader’s own answer.
Model answer: Perhaps Michelle felt people
listened to her more when she was not First
Lady. Her life was more like their lives. They
liked her better when she was an ordinary
American woman, and not the rich and
famous wife of a president. They might listen
more to her words and not be so interested in
her clothes.
4 Reader’s own answer.
5 Reader’s own answer.
Exercises
CHAPTER ONE

took her to a hospital in England, and she 1 1 d 2 f 3 a 4 b 5 c 6 e

got better. She has written a book, spoken at
the United Nations and today many people CHAPTER TWO

around the world know her story.
3 Like Malala Yousafzai, Michelle is very
interested in education for girls, and thinks
all girls should have the opportunity for
education. In 2015, she started a campaign
called “Let Girls Learn”.
CHAPTER EIGHT
1 Hillary Clinton.
2 She was not sad about leaving the White
Copyright © Ladybird Books Ltd, 2020
2 1 Children in the USA go first to elementary
school.
2 They usually graduate from high school at
the age of eighteen.
3 Michelle worked hard and got excellent grades.
4 Magnet schools give poorer children the
opportunity for a better education.
5 If children want to join a magnet school, they
must take a special exam.
6 Michelle was sometimes worried when she

House. She felt more free because the media gave the wrong answer in an exam.
were not so interested in her any more. She
thought that now she was not First Lady,
people would be able to hear her voice

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 THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF
MICHELLE OBAMA ANSWER KEY LEVEL 3

CHAPTER THREE CHAPTERS FIVE AND SIX

3 1 False. Only two American presidents went 6 1 h 2 b 3 f 4 a
to Princeton. 5 e 6 d 7 c 8 g
2 True.
3 False. It means “the second-best graduate of CHAPTER SIX

a class”. 7 “Let’s Move!” “Joining Forces”

4 False. She was very excited to go to Princeton. campaign campaign
5 False. She shared a room with a white girl. 1 healthy foods 5 veterans
6 True. 2 obese children 6 job opportunities
7 False. She went to law school at Harvard 3 do more sports 7 leaving the military
University. 4 Beyoncé 8 Jill Biden
8 True.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER FO UR 8 1 b 2 b 3 c 4 c
4 1 At the age of twenty-five, Michelle was a
qualified lawyer. CHAPTER
1 EIGHT
2 Michelle was Barack’s mentor, so she had 9 1 Barack Obama was president for eight years.
to work closely with him. 2 Michelle wants to do things her own way.
3 Craig played a game of basketball with 3 She has continued to work hard for the
Barack. community.
4 On their first date, Michelle and Barack ate 4 The Obamas enjoy travelling and visiting
Baskin-Robbins ice cream. friends and family.
5 In March 1991, Michelle’s dad died from 5 Many people want to read Michelle’s book
an illness. about her life.
6 Public Allies was the name of an organisation. 6 In the second part of the book, Barack becomes
7 Young people joined Public Allies because president.
they wanted to help the community.
8 Michelle was a strong and confident CHAPTERS ONE TO EIGHT

young woman. 10 1 Hillary Clinton wanted to be the first woman

CHAPTERS THREE AND F OUR
5 1 Queen Noor of Jordan graduated from
Princeton in 1973.
2 When Michelle first went to Princeton, her
brother was studying there.
3 In her last year at Princeton, Michelle wrote
a paper about black graduates.
4 When she was working at Sidley Austin, she
Copyright © Ladybird Books Ltd, 2020
US president.
2 Michelle Obama wrote a book called Becoming.
3 Marian Robinson wanted to be a children’s
doctor but was not able to go to college.
4 Jill Biden became the Second Lady in 2009.
5 OprahWinfrey had a famous TV programme
for twenty-five years.
6 Beyoncé made a video to help one of
Michelle’s campaigns.

met a new young man.

5 When Barack Obama joined Sidley Austin ,
he was training to be a lawyer. Project work
6 Michelle started Public Allies Chicago. Reader’s own answers.

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